1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to article carriers generally, and particularly to tie-downs and methods of anchoring cargo on multi-purpose ski and bicycle carriers that either directly engage or otherwise couple with a vehicle towing component.
2. Description of the Related Art
Passenger vehicles are well adapted to transport people, as they were designed to do, and will readily transport small cargo such as grocery sacks and briefcases. During outings, however, such as week-end trips, vacations or competitions, other modes of transportation are often desired. Skis, snowboards or bicycles may be integral to the outing. The recreational enthusiast knows the value of quiet leisure away from the hustle and bustle of the city, but must somehow find a way to carry both passengers and additional transportation equipment to the place of leisure. The competitor must get to and from the competitions, and will want to preserve the equipment for competition.
The method of transporting equipment should not detract from the goal of the outing, be it leisure or competition, nor should it cause any damage to a passenger vehicle. Unfortunately, in the past these simple goals have been contrary to each other.
A multitude of roof-top racks and carriers have been designed for either permanent or temporary mounting. These carriers are usually designed and manufactured to be compatible with one or a limited number of vehicles, since each vehicle is sized and shaped uniquely. While the permanent variety usually are more reliable in load carrying, they are also usually installed at the factory to carefully control installation and thereby prevent any leakage or damage which might otherwise occur. Moreover, they permanently add to the size of the vehicle, and also generally detract from the vehicle""s appearance.
Temporary carriers have been designed from diverse materials and geometries, including materials such as foam block, foam pad, rubber, plastic, metal and wood. To reduce the inventory required by a vendor to sell the temporary carrier, common vehicle features are used to attempt to provide the necessary support for cargo. For example, gutters are often found around vehicle doors, and a number of carriers clamp onto these gutters. Unfortunately, not all vehicles have features such as gutters, and so several different carriers must still be designed. Other carriers rely on the roof of the vehicle to provide both load bearing and also a place for friction, suction or magnetic grab. These temporary carriers have a tendency to be more temporary than planned or desired, occasionally allowing the cargo to slip and either be damaged or damage the vehicle. Such an event is totally unacceptable and will render a carrier useless.
In addition to the other challenges, roof-top carriers present an obstacle during loading and unloading. The equipment must somehow be placed on top of the vehicle without damaging either the vehicle or the equipment. Yet, the reason the equipment is being placed on top of the vehicle is because of large size and/or great bulk.
Other prior art carriers have been designed to mount on the bumper of a vehicle. While this type of carrier is often easier to load and unload, the limitations related to different vehicle designs found with the roof top carriers are still present. Different vehicles have different bumper designs. Some of the most modern vehicles offer no access to the bumper at all, and so different carriers must still be designed and stocked to accommodate different vehicles.
Given the limitations of the prior art, it is not surprising that there has been a relative explosion in carriers designed to install directly into a hitch receiver. The hitch receiver acts as a universal coupling into which utility and boat trailers may be attached, and may also be used to support a carrier. Like the bumper carrier, a hitch receiver carrier provides the advantage of easy equipment loading. In addition, hitch receivers have become standard to two sizes. The large size, a two inch receiver, is designed for high loads and may be specified, for example, for trailers as large as 3,500 pounds and tongue weights as great as 350 pounds. For smaller loads, typically up to 2,000 pounds and tongue weights of 200 pounds, a one and one-quarter inch hitch receiver is used.
While the hitch receiver designs have vastly eased the problems of different vehicle designs, there are still limitations therein that manufacturers have not been able to satisfactorily address. One limitation is the variability of equipment a user will transport. Some manufacturers have addressed each different type of equipment with different add-on components which adapt the carrier to the particular equipment. Unfortunately, a store then has to stock each of the different components. The user will also have to store all of the unused components, and remember the intended purpose of each of the components. Obviously, making the carrier adaptable to a variety of cargo is an expensive proposition for all involved, and is therefore undesirable when such add-ons are required. Finding a method to fasten various items securely to a multi-purpose carrier can be challenging, and the methods of the prior art can be quite time-consuming and provide less than desirable performance.
Another problem with hitch receiver carriers is when they support relatively large loads. The carrier is on a long arm extending from the receiver. When acceleration occurs in a vertical direction, the receiver is carrying the load exactly as it was designed for. Unfortunately, events such as acceleration, bumps and cornering lead to forces which are not always directly vertical. Particularly with the long vertical arm, forces transverse to the vehicle are amplified at the hitch. The carrier may sway or pivot undesirably within the receiver. Furthermore, even with purely vertical forces, the carrier may rattle or chatter within the receiver. Finally, there are two different standard receiver sizes that must be accommodated.
Some prior art carriers are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,248 to Allen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,406,384 to Schantz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,414 to Deguevara, Des. U.S. Pat. No. 308,846 to Eckhart, U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,105 by Kravitz, U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,472 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,960 to Allen et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,997 to Carlson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,202 to Lipp, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,202 by Kaloustian, the contents and teachings of each incorporated herein by reference. The Allen U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,248 was one of the early patents which showed a multi-purpose carrier that included bicycle, ski and roof-top capability. Like many of the other subsequent patents, however, the Allen design is limited to one or two bicycles, provided the bicycles are of the right design, or, alternatively, two pairs of skis. Bicycles of unusual design, or other objects aside from the skis, are not as easily accommodated, nor are multiples of bicycles and skis. Furthermore, in the Allen patent and in many other similar designs, the carrier must be tilted significantly towards the vehicle in order to retain cargo during transit. This significant tilting results in substantial load being placed against vehicle body panels and components. The risk of damage from the weight of the cargo and carrier, or from movement that leads to undesired contact between cargo and vehicle or motion between vehicle and carrier will lead to very expensive damage to the vehicle. This risk is not justifiable when the cost of repair is much greater than the cost of a carrier, as it generally is.
Schantz discloses a bumper mounted carrier that includes a cargo area behind the vehicle and also on the roof-top. The Schantz design does not include adaptations for any particular type of load, but does illustrate a dual platform carrier. The Schantz patent is exemplary of prior art carriers that are quite complex for carrying diverse cargo.
Deguevara illustrates a receiver mounted bicycle carrier, with a separate attachment for carrying skis. The Deguevara patent illustrates some of the fundamental limitations discussed previously. The carrier is limited to a predetermined number and type of bicycles, two as illustrated, and requires additional hardware, purchased separately, to accommodate skis. Other equipment would require yet more hardware, with each unique cargo item potentially requiring a unique attachment. Obviously, this is not practical for carrying diverse cargo, particularly when the different cargo types are carried upon the same carrier at the same time.
Eckhart discloses an elegantly simple bicycle carrier using rods that are inserted using cotter pins. Unfortunately, no provisions are made for other types of cargo aside from bicycles, nor are there any provisions for retaining cargo thereon. Carlson discloses a different, yet also well devised, bicycle carrier. Unfortunately, like the Eckhart design, no provisions are made for other cargo, and there is only very limited, and yet costly, structure for retaining cargo in place. Kravitz, Allen et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,472 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,960 and Kaloustian each also disclose prior art carriers with laterally extending arms.
Lipp discloses a bicycle and ski carrier which is capable of transporting several pairs of skis or bicycles without requiring separate add-on components, but the Lipp design is limited to carrying one type of cargo at a time, wherein the cargo must be consistent. In other words, either skis all having the same approximate thickness or bicycles having frame pieces of approximately the same |diameter and having appropriate shape and dimension will fit onto the carrier, but not both simultaneously.
The prior art limitations on adaptability are particularly apparent when a larger number of bicycles are desirably transported, particularly when those bicycles may include racing bicycles, bicycles without a top bar between seat and handle bars, and bicycles which may not have openings within the frame structure at all. The larger three-wheeled recumbent bicycles are also not transportable using these prior art carriers. Other difficult combinations include various assortments such as skis and bicycles or other combinations of diverse equipment.
In my previous patents U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,010,043, 6,010,049 and 6,039,228 and my presently allowed co-pending patent application Ser. No. 09/443,187 filed Nov. 19, 1999, the entire contents of each incorporated herein by reference, carriers are disclosed which have removable load-supporting pins. The pins are easily reconfigurable, which allows the carriers to be adapted to a variety of different loads. Nevertheless, there is still a desire for a further improved apparatus and method for securely supporting diverse loads upon a carrier, and for securely supporting cargo upon a carrier coupled with a vehicle towing component. For the purposes of this disclosure, vehicle towing components will be understood to include trailer type receiver hitches, bumper mounts, trunk mounts and other structure which carries a load and follows the general travel of a vehicle.
In a first manifestation, the invention is a cargo carrier having a structural framework operatively coupled with a vehicle towing component and having a load support extending therefrom for supporting cargo during transit. The improvement comprises a flaccid indeterminate length strap; a buckle which the strap passes through that retains tension when the strap is operatively cinched against cargo; and a guide coupled with and moveable relative to the load support and also operatively coupled to the strap. The guide has tensile forces applied to it between the load support and strap when the strap is cinched against cargo.
In a second manifestation, the invention is a cargo retainer for retaining at least one cargo item. A longitudinally extensive support surface terminates in an unsupported end, and a flexible and tensionable retainer runs co-extensive therewith and spaced therefrom to accommodate at least one cargo item therebetween. A first means for retaining a portion of the retainer adjacent a portion of the support surface is moveable along an axis parallel to the direction of longitudinal extension of the support surface, to vary the location of the support surface that is adjacent the portion of the retainer.
In a third manifestation, the invention is a convertible cargo carrier having a generally upright member and at least one laterally extending support arm configured to support at least one diverse load. Included are a means for passing from the support arm about the load which conforms generally thereto, and a means for tensioning the passing and conforming means. First and second alternative mounts locate the support arm relative to the upright member. First and second alternative anchors locate the passing and conforming means relative to the upright member. The first alternative anchor is adjacent the first alternative mount and the second alternative anchor is adjacent the second alternative mount. The passing and conforming means and support arm may be moved as a pair relative to the upright member between two alternative positions.
These and other features and manifestations are further detailed herein below.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention solve inadequacies of the prior art by providing an adjustable strap which acts upon cargo and the pins or rods of prior art carriers to cinch the cargo tightly against carrier. Various embodiments provide different advantages and benefits, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a review of the present disclosure, and are provided herein merely to illustrate the possibilities of the present invention.
A first object of the present invention is to provide an adaptable carrier which can accommodate very diverse articles simultaneously, including bicycles of all types, skis and poles, and many other articles, without requiring separate apparatus for each type of article. A second object of the invention is to be able to secure these diverse articles tightly onto the carrier to prevent any load shifting or undesired movement. Another object is to be able to load and unload these diverse articles without risk of damage to vehicle or articles. A further object is to use components which are readily re-usable, and which simultaneously allow the carrier to be shipped in relatively flat and compact packaging cartons prior to resale. Yet another object of the present invention is to utilize standard components wherever possible, thereby reducing the need for a large number of custom components and associated higher cost. Yet a further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus and method for securing articles onto a carrier which is natural and intuitive. An additional object is to enable reconfiguration without the need for a large number of small, easily misplaced parts. Another object of the invention is to keep the carrier as strong as possible while still keeping weight to a minimum.